Orange Post 127 Loses to Hamden Under Tuesday Night Lights

Baseball statistics reveal that when a batter leads off an inning with a walk (or gets hit with a pitch) he (or she) will score 70 percent of the time. Orange Post 127 proved to be the exception to that rule on two occasions Tuesday night and the result was a 1-0 loss to Hamden Post 88. The Zone 2 contest was played under the lights at Brinley Field.

In both the third and forth innings, Orange batters drew lead-off walks from Hamden pitcher P.J. Scott but failed to score either time. In the bottom of the third inning Grayson Amoroso got the free pass but Scott retired the next three batters to leave Amoroso stranded at second base. In the fourth inning, Nick Baviello walked, stole second base and he also was left by Scott to die on the vine. Adding insult to injury, Sean Butler singled at the outset of the fifth inning but was quickly picked off first base by Scott.

“Their kid (Scott) was good and we couldn’t score any runs off of him. We just didn’t hit the ball with guys on base. In addition, he has a great move to first base and picked off two base runners,” Orange coach Bob Mirto said.

Scott ended the bottom of the sixth inning by  picking Brian Speer off first base.

Hamden’s one run came in the top of the fourth inning. Matt Bunbdock led off by blasting a double to the fence in left center field. Jake Lotto bunted him on to third base and the burley Bundock scored on a third strike wild pitch from Orange hurler Dane Simone.

Scott retired the first 9 batters he faced and had a no-hitter going until Butler broke it up with his base hit at the outset of the fifth inning. In his summer debut, Scott tossed a complete game three-hit shutout while striking out seven ands walking three. His victory improved Hamden’s record to 5-3.

According to Mirto, “Dane pitched a very good game but once again, we didn’t give him any offensive support. Our defense was good throughout the game. Other positives were Jim Martino, who has been doing a great job behind the plate, is starting to hit the ball. Max Ritchie had been sidelined all spring and summer by tendonitis. He finally got to pitch an inning tonight. After walking the first guy he faced, he struck out the next three. He threw the ball hard and Hamden batters could not catch up with him.”

Despite the final outcome, Simone (now 0-2) only allowed 1 run on 2 hits. He also walked 1 Post 88 batter and whiffed three.

The loss snapped Orange’s three  game winning streak and evened its record at 5-5. Post 127 hosts Milford Post 196 Wednesday night in a 7 p.m. contest at Brinley Field. Last Saturday the Sixers swept a 9-0, 3-2 twin bill from Mirto and Co.

Mirto added, “Our zone is really balanced this year. On a given night, any team can beat another team in our zone. There are no sure wins in Zone 2. Our goal is to get better each game. With excellent young pitchers like Max (Ritchie) and Dane (Simone), our future is very encouraging.”

ORANGE ODDS AND ENDS—Outfielder Ted Ballou broke a bone in his finger diving back to first base over the weekend and is expected to be out of action for at least two weeks.